I smirk as I read the entries from the Grimoire about the food.

"So, you said that this is a fine-dining establishment," I say to both the waiter and Marcel. "How good of an establishment did you say this was again?"

"For people at Platinum Rank, we're basically the best there is. Beyond our quality, there's only Diamond Rank restaurants. But our pick of the best Platinum Rank monsters and materials makes us the very best for the student of the first two years," the waiter says proudly.

"But clearly, someone like you wouldn't know," Marcel snickers. "When have you ever had good food?"

That riles up the crowd and I now see many people smirking.

"So, you said that you served Heavenly Trout, Spicy Volcano Potatoes, and the Herbland Cow's Butter. Correct? And that these should all be Platinum Rank ingredients."

"Indeed," the waiter says smugly. "Peak Platinum Rank ingredients."

"Marcel, since you know so much about fine dining, would you mind trying the ingredients yourself and confirming this?"

Marcel can't wait and jumps at the occasion of proving me wrong, taking a fork and stabbing the food, putting it into his mouth, chewing expertly, and then declaring for everybody to hear, "the waiter is correct. My refined palate could recognize such great food anywhere. I could probably still recognize such great food even if I lost the sense of taste!"

"What now, sir?" The waiter asks me. "Are you going to finally reprimand your Squire?"

"Boss, I swear, this is not--" Lancelot looks about to cry but I raise a hand in front of his face, silencing him.

"I admit that my Squire might not be the brightest, nor the most courageous warrior, nor a good spender of money, nor--"

"HEY!" Lancelot cries out.

"Right," I say, "I was getting carried away. What I meant to say was that despite all flaws that he might have, his palate is without the slightest doubt the most refined here. And it's not close. In fact, this?" I point at the supposed Heavenly Trout.

"This is a Gold Rank Flyfire Bass."

"Flyfire Basses are super common!" Fatty cries out. "The taste is indeed vaguely similar to an Heavenly Trout, but when it comes down to the energy and quality of the fish itself, it's like comparing heaven and earth!"

"Preposterous!" the waiter frowns. "How do you dare insult--"

"Lancelot," I say, looking intently at my Squire.

I am easily able to identify the fish thanks to the Grimoire, but there's only one real food expert here.

"Now that my Boss has mentioned it, this is clearly a Flyfire Bass. Look at the skin. Do you see those small orange scales under the fins? That's the mark of a Flyfire Bass. Heavenly Trouts have lightly yellow and azure scales there. It's almost impossible to see without the right light, but you can just..." Lancelot rips out a few scales and drops the crispy scales into the waiter's hand. "This is a scam."

"Oh my! I can see it from here! That kid is right! I've ordered the same, look! This is a damn Flyfire Bass! Why the hell did I pay the price of a Heavenly Trout for a Flyfire Bass?!"

Several other patrons notice the same in their plates and one of them even smashes the plate on the ground, furious.

Marcel now looks paler than a sheet.

"Marcel, you said that these, too, were Spicy Volcano Potatoes and Herbland Cow's Butter, right?"

My cousin nods angrily.

"That must have been a mistake! A batch must have been swapped by whoever gives them fish! Even the best establishment can be scammed once! There's nothing that weird about it! You're just making this into something bigger than it actually is, you dirty peasant!"

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Now that they've heard Marcel talk, even the patrons look unsure. They're now wondering if this was an honest mistake and the waiter, too, says the same.

"Yes, yes! It must have been a simple mistake! We'll, of course, reimburse you all, let me fetch the manager! We'll also offer complementary drinks."

"Not so fast," I say. "These potatoes right here, which might look like Spicy Volcano Potatoes, are actually--"

Lancelot is examining one of them closely and swears.

"These are Earthly Oven Potatoes! How did I miss this?! If I had known that these bastards were trying to scam us this bad, I would have looked better! Look, look at the skin of the baked potatoes, do you see those little brown veins?! That's the sign of a Earthly Oven Potato!"

"And this is not Herbland's Cow Butter. This is Green Cow Butter. These are all Gold Rank ingredients. The thing is, while eating a Gold Rank ingredient at Platinum Rank has no side effects, it also doesn't have any positive effects. Eating enough Platinum Rank ingredients makes your veins stronger and slightly increases your natural talent, right? Well, it turns out that all that you've paid so far here was actually for naught. If they serve Gold Rank food without worrying about the consequences today, who knows how long they've been doing it."

"Outrageous!" Patrons are now properly riled up after finding out.

A few of them are even Diamond Ranks who have come to dine with their Platinum Rank friends. They start getting up from their tables, looking murderously at the waiter. "Fetch the manager!" one of them says. "I want EVERY receipt reimbursed before I raze this entire place to the ground!"

"There's few things that one can forgive when they offer you cheap food at such a fine dining establishment," I smile at the shaking waiter. "One honest mistake is definitely among those. But this? Scamming people to have a bigger margin on food? What about trust, loyalty? Whoever manages this place hasn't just ruined this restaurant forever, it has also damaged the trust that people put into the food that gets brought to them at other restaurants."

I turn toward Marcel, who's completely frozen, flick his hat away, revealing his shining bald head, and say, "next time, don't lie about your taste just to boast. If Lancelot and I hadn't been here, you would have kept the scam going for everybody. Learn some humility, baldy."

"Lancelot," I say, looking over my shoulder as I start walking out. I want to have a cool exit, but I see Lancelot scarfing down the food on the table while the patrons rage and storm the kitchen. "What are you doing?!"

"Just because it's Gold Rank doesn't mean it's not good! One second, I'm almost done!"

* * *

"Ouch, ouch," Lancelot screams while I drag him out of the restaurant by his ear. "You dumb beast! You absolute pig! When will you learn?! Have I not been generous with you?!"

"What have I done?!"

I look at him and push him forward, giving him a solid kick in the rear.

"You need to learn self-control! Let's go, we've got some studying to take care of."

We're on our way to the Astral Library since I need to brush up on Runic Notation and talk to Elder Karl to get access to the Platinum Rank section on Runic Notation.

Yet, on the way, I see a man walking toward me. I recognize the blond hair and raise an eyebrow.

"Orrivane," I say.

Orrivane Nyxmoor, the Void Mage, one of two people whose Rainbow Skill I've seen in action when we fought Iskara's older brother back in the Tomb of Fate. His Rainbow Skill, Event Horizon, is the most impressive Skill I've seen so far. The peculiarity of Rainbow Skills is to completely ignore Ranks in their effect, which makes them terrifying. They're far from invincible, but they're... Insane to say the least. Event Horizon creates an absolute shield that swallows any attack, no matter how strong. From the reading I got from the Grimoire back then, I know, however, that, at his current Rank, he can only summon a very small version of it.

I wonder what he wants. We haven't really spoken since the fight. He's among the more reserved Champions.

"Jacob," he says without one of his usual yawns. "Can we have a word?"

I look back at Fatty and then back at him, "Sure. In private?"

"If you don't mind."

"Lancelot, go to Elder Karl. I'll be along shortly. Give him this," I give him my token. "Have him only spend the Merit Points for the Runic Notation. If I find one more Merit Point than that missing, I'll have you spit out the last month's meals. Do you understand?"

"You're so mean," Lancelot cries out. "Can I stop to eat something on the way? I saw this stall--"

Lancelot cuts himself off when he sees I've summoned Hellbane's sword.

"Yes, Boss. Immediately, Boss."

He takes the token and runs away.

"You certainly have an interesting Squire," Orrivane says with a hint of mirth.

"I do," I sigh. "Anyway, where would you like to talk?"

"Come."

We reach a hall and then a small room.

"This is warded against eavesdroppers," he says.

"Very secretive," I frown. "What's the matter? Did anything happen?"

"My family wants to talk to you."

"Ok?" I frown.

"No. Not ok. If you do, they'll kill you and make a slave out of me, Jacob."

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